History for Half a Pint

Ormond

Noah4thenix

yeah sucked to see but at least they made a deep run

COYN

Really? given they were effectively a professional team (3 players had either pro contracts or were on scholarships) and the rest train in a professional environment its pretty bad they couldn't win this trophy where the rest of the clubs playing are effectively amateur  

That's probably a bit of a harsh take, I mean the Reserves team is a very young squad, pretty much all of them under 20 compared to the Auckland United squad which has a higher average age. 

Also the Auckland United squad has a bunch of players who have had pro contracts and some which have also played overseas at a higher level than the NZ leagues. I reckon there's more professional experience and high level experience in the Auckland United squad than the Nix reserves - which makes sense sunce they're still a part of the academy setup. 

I personally think its a pretty good achievement for such a young group to have competed so well against the NZ and Oceania champions

Ormond

Noah4thenix

yeah sucked to see but at least they made a deep run

COYN

Really? given they were effectively a professional team (3 players had either pro contracts or were on scholarships) and the rest train in a professional environment its pretty bad they couldn't win this trophy where the rest of the clubs playing are effectively amateur  

That's probably a bit of a harsh take, I mean the Reserves team is pretty much all under 20s who are still developing towards a professional career and they've just gone within a couple of minutes of beating a much more experienced team featuring some seasoned pros, some of who have played overseas and an overall higher average age than the Nix academy.